If you’ve sat through one too many light cycles with no idea which lane to be in, you’re not alone. The Los Angeles Times crunched traffic volume and collision data since 2010 and came up with a list of the city’s worst intersections. Some will feel painfully familiar; others might surprise you. Here’s the rundown, with a silver lining for each.
1. Highland and Sunset (Hollywood)
The undisputed champion of traffic volume, with 312 reported collisions since 2010. For drivers coming from the south, this is the main gateway into Hollywood, and it shows: tourist traffic keeps the place packed. If you’re stuck, at least you get a view of Hollywood High School’s streamline moderne architecture.
2. Sepulveda and Lincoln (Westchester)
Second-highest traffic volume and 99 collisions. Both streets have long been “short cuts” to LAX, despite years of evidence they don’t save time (it even made it onto “Curb Your Enthusiasm”). On the bright side, it’s considered one of the world’s best plane-watching spots.
3. MLK and Crenshaw (Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw)
Ninth in traffic volume but 348 collisions. The intersection sits next to the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw shopping center where two ultra-wide corridors meet. That striking art-deco building with the tall spire? It was once the Broadway department store the mall was built around.
4. 3rd and Alvarado (Westlake)
Tenth in volume, 246 collisions. It’s a high-design intersection and a major MTA bus transit hub, so a big share of the traffic is buses. Generations knew the corner as home to St. Vincent Hospital; the shuttered site is now set to become a homeless services campus.
5. El Segundo and Hoover (Athens)
Sixth in traffic volume, 70 collisions. Just south of the infamously jammed 110–105 interchange, El Segundo is the shortcut northbound 110 drivers use to escape the mess. North of the intersection, Athens on the Hill offers a quieter residential pocket with curving streets and gentle knolls.
6. Los Feliz and Griffith Park (Los Feliz)
Eleventh in volume, 122 collisions. I-5 on- and off-ramps, the main entrance to Griffith Park, and commuters from Hollywood heading to Glendale, Silver Lake, and downtown all converge here. Driving east, you get a clear view of the San Gabriel Mountains, and you’re a short walk from trailheads.
7. Pacific Coast Highway and Sunset (Pacific Palisades)
Twelfth in volume, 336 collisions. Two iconic roads meet at a world-famous surf break, and the parking situation adds to the chaos. The upside: it’s a beautiful place to sit in traffic, and you can always duck into the Will Rogers State Beach parking lot.
8. Santa Monica and Highland (Hollywood)
Thirteenth in volume, 238 collisions. Wedged between Hollywood and West Hollywood, it pulls in neighborhood traffic plus commuters from Melrose and Sunset. Film buffs will recognize it as a key location in the indie hit “Tangerine.”
9. Fountain and Hyperion (Silver Lake)
Third in traffic volume but only 38 collisions. It’s a T-intersection designed for a continuous right turn off the busier street (Hyperion). Geographically, it’s where Fountain, a major east–west corridor, turns north and becomes Hyperion on the way to Glendale.
10. Crenshaw and 9th (Central L.A.)
Fourth in volume, 31 collisions. Crenshaw is one of the basin’s major boulevards but ends at Wilshire in Hancock Park, unlike Western and Vermont, which continue farther north. The boulevard dead-ends at the Harbor Building, a marble and steel modern architecture standout.
11. La Cienega and Centinela (Inglewood)
Fourteenth in volume, 116 collisions. Planners once envisioned this stretch of La Cienega as a freeway; through the Baldwin Hills it still feels like one. Then you hit the Centinela/La Tijera/La Cienega maze, a bottleneck for anyone getting in or out of LAX. Pann’s, the iconic Googie coffee shop, is right there if you need a break.
12. Vermont and 28th (West Adams)
Fifth in traffic volume, 28 collisions. Proximity to USC and the notorious 10–110 interchange does the rest. Because it’s a T-intersection, you only have to worry about two directions instead of three.
13. Wilshire and Sepulveda (Westwood)
Seventh in volume, 31 collisions. Westwood, Brentwood, UCLA, the 405, and the Sepulveda Pass make this one of the region’s busiest crossroads. Metro’s planned Sepulveda Transit Corridor could one day connect the Westside to the Valley in under 20 minutes.
14. Pacific Coast Highway and Channel/Chautauqua (Santa Monica)
Eighth in volume, 52 collisions. A three-way T with movements in every feasible direction. The intersection has been known for congestion for a long time; it was an early beach-side business district, and some of those buildings are still standing.
What It All Means
The list blends two things: how much traffic moves through an intersection and how many collisions have been reported since 2010. High volume doesn’t always mean the most crashes; design and context matter. The worst spots tend to share a few traits: they’re gateways (to Hollywood, LAX, Griffith Park, or the coast), they’re near freeway interchanges where drivers hunt for shortcuts, they’re transit hubs, or they’re awkward T-intersections and multi-way junctions that force tricky maneuvers.
We’re grateful to the Los Angeles Times for making this data public and for the reporting that makes it easier to see where risk is concentrated on L.A. roads. If you or someone you know has been injured in a collision at one of these intersections or anywhere in the greater Los Angeles area, the team at The Law Offices of Jacob Ermani can help you understand your options. Reach out for a free consultation to get the guidance you need.